Buttonhole Twist

         My previous post on Rose mania, i had worked Buttonhole stitch with raised effect at the center of  design.

Raised Buttonhole

           
               Well here is its tutorial.

Padding instruction with Buttonhole stitch

                 
                        Take felt cloth, cut a circle ( required size).          Stitch it to base fabric leaving little space un-stitched for stuffing. Stuff some gauze with the help of a tooth pick and stitch remaining part to base fabric. Now start working Buttonhole stitch around the circle. Once finished with first row of buttonhole stitch, then from second row (of circle) start working buttonhole stitch picking each loop, without catching below felt cloth. After finishing 3 to 4 rows of buttonhole, from next row pick every alternate loop and later, the next row pick each loop. End at center, taking back working thread to backside of fabric and knot it.
                   

Detached Chain with Bullion stitch

                Once buttonhole stitch is worked on padded felt cloth, lets start with detached chain with Bullion stitch. Commence at center, work a chain (loop) piercing felt cloth, while ending detached chain stitch, try to end at edge of circle without pulling whole thread ( leaving working thread freely on top ) as shown in picture. Come back again at chain loop without pulling needle out of fabric. Now work bullion stitch, warp working thread 10 to 15 times to needle and very gently pull out needle and end at edge of circle as shown in picture.  Once detached chain with bullion stitch is complete, center gap can be filled with a french knot.

Buttonhole stitch, Pistil stitch, Chain with bullion stitch 

                    Try working with oval. Here in above picture, oval is worked in same manner, top is worked with pistil stitch and detached chain edging.

Roses, Rose Mania !!!

                 Roses Roses and many more Roses....... Yep, this post is all about various ways to work a rose.    There are many ways to work a rose like Raised cup, Bullion Rose, rose using chain stitch or stem stitch etc. Well in this project i have worked " Banksia Rose, Rambler Rose, Woven Rose and Rose using stem stitch ".                  

Rose works

Rose Work

Rose Work

                   Have a look at below collage, Woven rose ( spider's web filling) instruction

Woven Rose

               
                          To start with first work a fly stitch, then work two straight stitch or go around fly stitch as shown in picture. Now start weaving over and under these spokes, starting at center. I usually prefer first two weaving bit firm weave and later weave freely. Here i have used two shades of green color, after 5 to 6 warps around spokes, you can change color to give better effect.


             Banksia Rose instruction

Banksia Rose

               
                       Banksia rose, work three small loops very close to each other and secure these loops with a small back stitch ( to end ). Now work five small loops around the initial bud (loops), where loops fall on bud and hold petals. Same way work two more round of loops or to achieve your desired size of rose. Here also for each round of loops you can use different shades of same color for better effect.


         Rambler Rose instruction

Rambler Rose

                   
                     Rambler rose, work three small loops and secure it with a back stitch as in banksia rose. Now work stem stitch around this bud as shown in picture.


            Rose using stem stitch

Rose using Stem stitch

                   
                          Rose using stem stitch, work a straight (horizontal) stitch, then go upwards as if working a cross stitch. Go under left side of straight stitch without catching fabric, later again go under right side of straight stitch where working thread being under the needle and end at right side corner. Come out at center of upper part of two legs, now start working stem stitch without piercing fabric but just going under each leg ( four corners). Work 3 to 4 rounds.
                 

Rose work

                     For center raised effect flower worked with buttonhole stitch , check out its instruction Buttonhole twist.

French knot

                   French knot, most of us know how to work french knot. Yet i am sharing this post with some tips and tricks to get a perfect knot. French knot can be worked firmly i.e, getting firm knots and also bit free ( loose) knots also. Observe below picture, center circle worked with red color and also two heart shapes are firm knots, where as to its right and left side triangles are freely worked knots. Both knots has its own charm and can be worked according to one's requirement or pattern requirement.

French knot flower

                      Simple method to work french knot, observe below collage. Here i have worked with two strands of thread. Bring thread out, place needle below thread as shown in picture, wrap thread firmly (not too tight) two or three times as shown, holding thread firmly with left hand pierce needle close to the point where you started, and positioning of needle should be 90 degree (vertical) while pulling back thread. By holding needle vertically, you get perfect knot with small dent in center presenting the effect of bud.

French Knot

                     In same way lets work free french knots and not firm as above. Bring thread out as shown below. Wrap loosely , two or three wraps.

French knot

                   

             Holding one end of thread with left hand, pierce needle closely where you started. 

Tip: Here while pulling down needle towards backside of fabric, keep needle slant towards yourself with an angle of 35 degree and other end of thread exactly opposite to needle, by this way the loops formed will fall to one side and knot holding loops will fall opposite side.

French knot

French knot

  

                  Tips: To vary with size of knot, to get bigger or smaller knot, instead wrapping too many times to get bigger knot or don't warp few times to get smaller knot. Always warp two or three times not more than that. Instead of increasing number of warps play with number of strands .

                 Observe below picture, here is small exercise where french knot is worked with 2 strands to 6 strands of thread and simple comparison is shown. 

French knot comparison

               French worked in pink color are firm knots and where as knots worked with green color is freely worked. As mentioned in picture, first one is worked with 2s of thread both firm and loose knot, it goes so on till 6 strands of thread.

French Knot

                Observing above exercise and applying on a pattern in above picture, here tip of pattern is worked with single strand of thread and gradually number of strands increases as the pattern goes down.  So to achieve perfect French Knot warp two or three times while playing with number of strands.

Couching, Couching Simple Couching

                  I think all of  us know couching !!!!!. There are various way to couch, some use herringbone stitch to couch a thread, some buttonhole stitch .... so on.

                 Basic couching, have a look at below picture, lay a thread or cord, then run simple stitch to hold thread at regular intervals as shown in picture.

Couching

             Here i have used 6 strands of thread for laying and 2 strands of thread for couching.

Couching

Couching

                       

                    Simple exercise, i have taken a circle to work couching.

Couching

                 

                 Observe above and below picture, to start couching, come out and while ending go down the fabric. 

Couching

Couched Circle

                   Like this geometrical motifs can be worked to create interesting patterns. Below is the example how couching can be used to create beautiful texture following a pattern.

Couched Pattern

Couched Pattern

                Happy Couching !!!!!!!